What if We Need to Talk About Kevin
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if Sam made a deal with Crowley to get Dean out of Purgatory that resulted in him forgetting Dean and hunting.
1. Chapter 1

"Where's Dean?" Sam asked Crowley. Dean had just killed Dick and then disappeared along with him and Cas.

"He's gone. You're alone," Crowley said. "However, I can fix that."

"Gone where?" Sam asked.

"Purgatory. Where did you think he would go after killing the head leviathan, you stupid moose?"

"How could you possibly get him out of Purgatory? And if you did, you would just let everything else down there out, too." Dean would kill him if he let that happen.

"Not at all. There's a special door that only humans can go through."

"Well, if only humans can get through, how are you going to get Dean through it?" Sam asked.

"You just let me worry about that."

"And all it will cost is my soul?" Sam asked. He really, really, really didn't want to go back to Hell. But, it wasn't right to leave Dean in Purgatory. He knew that. And, at least this time, he'd probably go to regular Hell. That couldn't be as bad as Lucifer's box. It couldn't. Could it?

"You can keep your soul," Crowley answered. He had to play this carefully. As a demon he was bound by any deal he made, but he needed to be tricky in the wording so Sam would say yes.

That sounded like good news, but he knew Crowley wouldn't be handing out freebies for a Winchester. "Then what do you want?"

"Just some of your knowledge," Crowley said.

"That's it?" Sam asked. There couldn't be anything that he knew that Crowley didn't know.

"That's it."

"And you'll get Dean out of Purgatory right now?"

"It will take a few months."

"How many months?" A few to a demon could mean 1,000 or more.

Crowley smiled. "You're smarter than you look. 12."

Sam sighed.

"It's better than eternity."

"Fine," Sam said.

Crowley pulled him into a kiss.

"What do you want to know?" Sam asked, ready to keep his end of the bargain, so the year long countdown would start now.

"It's not about what I want to know. It's about what I don't want you to know. I'm taking away your knowledge of hunting and your brother. When you wake up tomorrow, all you'll remember is a childhood traveling around with a drunk father. Going to college and having your girlfriend die in a fire. And then dropping out of school, traveling the country to evade the law since you're always stealing to feed yourself."

"So, when Dean comes back, I won't even remember him?" Sam asked.

"You won't remember much of anything. I don't know how you'll explain all the holes in your memory. Alcohol, probably."

"I'll figure something else out," Sam said.

"Too late, Moose. A deal's a deal."

Crowley snapped his fingers and magically sent Sam to sleep in a motel bed across the country.

SSS

"Cas, where are we?" Dean asked.

"Purgatory," Cas answered.

Dean heard a noise and turned around to look. He saw red eyes peering out at him from all over. "What do we do?" he asked.

When he got no response he turned around. Cas was gone. He was on his own.

SSS

Benny heard Crowley's call. After the angel had sucked them all up and then spit them back out, the demon had found a communication hole in Purgatory. They couldn't go through it, but they could talk through it.

"What do you want?" Benny asked. Crowley had promised to find a way out for all the monsters so that they could help get rid of the Leviathans. Win-win for everyone. But all Crowley had found was a portal humans could go through.

"I found a way out, but only for you," Crowley said.

"I heard the head Leviathan is back here. So, what do you want in exchange for my escape now."

"Help with my total Universe Domination plot."

"And what's in it for me? Getting out of Purgatory might not be such a boon if you're in charge of everything," Benny noted. "No offense," he added as an afterthought.

"I'll need a second –in-command for every major area. You can have your pick," Crowley promised.

Benny shrugged. "Your rule can't be any worse than life down here. What do I have to do?"

Crowley explained everything.

SSS

Castiel found himself surrounded by several monsters.

"What do you want?" Cas asked, wondering why they just didn't eat him or whatever.

"Do you know how uncomfortable it was for all of us to be crammed inside of you for weeks?"

"That was probably very unpleasant. I apologize."

"Apology not accepted. Before we eat you, we're going to give you a taste of your 'unpleasantness.'"

Castiel shrank back in fear as the monsters advanced on him. It was the first time he had ever felt fear and he didn't like it.

SSS

Sam woke up and looked around. Once again, he wasn't sure what motel or city he was in. Why did he live this way? Just because it was how he was brought up didn't mean he had to continue on that way. He wished he had stayed in school after Jess. It was what she would have wanted. But, he had gone back to his dad's way of life, only for him to die in a car accident the following year.

He got up in search of a car to steal. Once he found one, he decided to take off and maybe find a permanent place to settle. He was getting to old for this kind of life. As he was trying to formulate a plan he hit a dog.

He decided to turn over a leaf immediately. He rushed the dog to the nearest vet and begged the doctor to save it. He wasn't going to take off, but decided to wait and make sure the dog was OK. It wasn't rational, but he felt like his whole future depended on this dog's fate.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean was chasing a monster. He had already killed a couple. He wasn't sure what happened to monsters that you killed in Purgatory. They probably just ceased to exist. It didn't matter anyway. Now that he knew that he could kill them, he had a mission. He had to find Cas.

He caught the monster and pinned him to a tree with a blade next to his next. "Where's the angel?" he asked.

The monster threw Dean off and started attacking. Dean waited for the fatal bite when the head of the monster was separated from his body. He looked up to find a different monster with a bloody blade in his hand.

Dean stood up. "Who are you?"

"Someone who can help you."

"Why would you want to do that?" Dean asked. He wasn't going to trust a monster. He wasn't Sam.

"There's a way out of Purgatory. But, it's only for humans. You can take a guest, though."

"Let me guess. That would be you?" Dean asked.

"Of course. You in or not?"

He had killed enough monsters in his life, he guessed he was entitled to bring one back in order to get out of Purgatory. "Sure. But first we find the angel."

"No problem. It will take a year to open the door, anyway. I'm sure we can find one little angel in that time," Benny said.

"A year?" Dean asked. "What do we have to do?"

"We have to sacrifice a monster at the portal, every day for a year," Benny said.

"I can't do that," Dean protested.

"Why not. You were going to kill as many as you could anyway, weren't you?" Benny asked, indicating the monster Dean had just been hunting. "You think they deserve to die, don't you?"

"Well, yes," Dean admitted.

"Then why not do it in a sacrificial manner that would benefit you?"

"Why not?" Dean asked, not being able to think of a reason.

SSS

"OK, Kevin," Crowley said to the captive prophet. "I have step one of my plan in motion, but I need you to read this tablet, so I can figure out what step 3 is."

"What about step 2?" Kevin asked.

"I'm not that far behind," Crowley said and handed Kevin the tablet.

Kevin looked at it and put his hand up to his head. He hated reading these things. After reading just a few words, though, he realized he couldn't let Crowley know what was on there. He was going to have make something up and he'd better make it go.

SSS

The dog had made it out of surgery. Sam had ended up going home with the vet and the dog. He hadn't felt this way about anyone since Jess. At least he didn't think he had. There were so many holes in his life. So many things he couldn't remember and he wasn't sure why. He had a feeling there was some bad stuff he wasn't remembering and he also had a feeling that it was a good thing. He wasn't going to try to remember.

He fell into a routine with Amelia. He got a job in an IT department. He remembered he had had a similar job a few years ago, but couldn't remember why he left it. He knew it was boring and a couple of people had died. His friend Ian had been one of them, but all the details were so hazy. He hoped he wasn't a serial killer that blotted out the memories after the kill. He didn't think so, though. That just didn't feel right.

SSS

The monsters had thrown Castiel into a cage. He had no powers down here in Purgatory. He knew that was because his power ultimately came from Heaven and that power couldn't reach into Purgatory. Every day the monsters adjusted the bars in the cage, making it smaller. They were clearly going to take their time and enjoy it, because they were only moving them an infinitesimal amount each day.

SSS

A year later, more or less

"Only two more sacrifices," Benny said as they stood over their latest kill.

"We haven't found Cas yet," Dean said.

"He's probably dead." Benny knew that he wasn't dead and he knew exactly where he was. But, he wanted to wait until the last minute to bring him out. It would be much better that way. Yesterday, he had gone in without Dean and killed the monsters that were holding the angel captive. Tomorrow, they would "rescue" him together.

"I'm not leaving without him," Dean said without a lot of conviction. He hated Purgatory. In its own way it was worse than Hell. He had been here only a fraction of the time he had spent in Hell and nobody was torturing him, but, well he couldn't explain it, it was just worse. It stripped something away from you. Even when he was in Hell and torturing souls, he still managed to have some compassion for them. He felt nothing for the monsters he was tearing apart.

SSS

Kevin had finally managed to escape from Crowley after giving him just enough truth with lies to keep him off his back. Now, he would know it was all lies, though. He couldn't get caught by him again. He needed help. He picked up a disposable phone at a convenience store and called the number he had for Sam Winchester.

SSS

Sam looked down at his phone display when it rang. It was unavailable. He decided to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Sam?"

"Yeah. Who is this?"

"It's Kevin Tran."

Sam vaguely remembered the name. It was some kid he met at the hospital while he was visiting a friend. The weird part is he couldn't remember what friend he had been visiting or what had happened while he was there. Something got broken and the kid had tried to steal something. They had left together. There were others around, but Sam couldn't remember them.

He never liked letting others know about his memory lapses, so he just said, "What's up?"

"I need to see you. Now."

"Where are you?" Sam asked.

Kevin turned out to be only a couple hundred miles away. Sam decided to go see him. Maybe he could get some answers about his life.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean looked down at the latest monster Benny had brought for him to sacrifice. "Amy."

"It's you. Sam's brother, right? Are you going to kill me a second time?"

"I'm sorry," Dean said. "Can't you get anyone else?" he asked Benny.

"What? Monsters have been kind of hard to find lately. They know we're on the hunt. We only have a few minutes left. You know if we miss a sacrifice, we have to start all over," Benny said. He had no idea who this monster was, but Dean hadn't had any problem killing one up to now.

Dean decided to just go ahead with it. It wasn't like Amy was totally innocent. She had killed people. He raised up his weapon to give the first cut.

"Wait," Amy said. "What happened to Jacob?"

"Who?" Dean asked.

"My son. He was due to come home when you killed me. I haven't been able to find him here. Did you kill him, too?"

"No," Dean answered. Giving her that comfort was the least he could do.

SSS

Sam pulled up to the church where Kevin had told him to meet him. He walked up and knocked on the door. "Kevin!" he yelled. "It's Sam. Sam Winchester."

He pushed open the door and walked in and was immediately drenched in water and what he thought was bleach. He looked up and saw Kevin. " What was that for?"

"Just needed to be sure," Kevin answered.

Sure of what? Sam wondered. Sure he was clean? "Of course," he said.

"Where have you been?" Kevin asked.

"You know, I met a girl. I got a job. Usual stuff," Sam answered.

"What? You weren't looking for me?" Kevin asked in amazement. He didn't really know why Sam should have been looking for him. He barely knew him. But, he just thought that was what these guys did.

"Looking for you? Were you lost?" Sam was pretty sure he didn't know this kid all that well. It's true that most of his memories were hazy, but they seemed to at least be there somewhat, and he only had fairly recent memories of this kid and not many of them.

"Lost? Crowley kidnapped me." Kevin knew that Sam had seen that.

"Are you OK? Who's Crowley?"

"You don't know who Crowley is?" Kevin asked. This so couldn't be good.

SSS

Benny had gone to retrieve the angel. If they made him Dean 's last sacrifice, there would be no turning back for Dean. He would completely belong to Benny. Benny didn't know exactly what Crowley's plans were. The only thing he knew for sure was that he couldn't trust him. He had to get control over Dean.

"Where are you taking me?" Castiel asked as Benny dragged him along the ground.

"Here," Benny said and tied him to the killing tree.

"Cas?" Dean asked when he came upon them. "Benny, that's Cas. We can't kill him."

Of course, Benny had been prepared for this. It was the whole point. "You either kill him now, or you kill 365 more monsters and wait a year to get out. I couldn't find anyone else."

"No. I can't kill him," Dean said.

"What's going on, Dean?" Cas asked.

"There's a door that only humans can get out of," Dean said. "I have to sacrifice a monster every day for a year to open it. This is the last day." Then something occurred to him. "Cas isn't a monster, Benny. He's an angel."

"All monster means is non-human. He'll do."

"It's OK, Dean. After what I did, I deserve to die," Castiel assured him. Besides, dying had to be better than existence in Purgatory.

They heard a rustle of leaves and turned towards the sound.

"Dean? Is that you? I've heard about a human down here killing monsters. Has it been you all along?"

"Madison. Yeah. It was me."

"What happens to a monster when you kill it in Purgatory?" she asked.

"I hadn't really thought about it," Dean admitted.

"They just cease to exist," Benny said.

"Are you sure?" Madison asked.

"As sure as I can be about anything."

"That's what I want," Madison said. "Please kill me."

"It's going to hurt," Dean said. Two days in a row he was going to have to kill Sam's friends.

"That's OK. As long as it ends."

"Untie Cas and tie her up," Dean said to Benny.

His plan was now shot to Hell, but Dean would get suspicious if he argued.

Dean tried to drown out Maddie's screams. None of the others had bothered him. Not even Amy. But, Madison wasn't a monster. Not really. She never knew when she wolfed out and she seemed completely human down here as well. He had killed other werewolves down here and they had all been in werewolf form. Madison was probably the only one killed when she wasn't wolfed out.

When the deed was finally done, a hole opened above them.

"Hurry, it will only be open a short time," Benny yelled.

"How are you going to get out if only humans can get through?" Dean asked.

"Anyone within five feet of you will be safe," Benny answered.

"OK, you and Cas stick close," Dean said as he started to climb the hill towards the door.

SSS

Kevin had spent all night trying to explain demons and leviathans to Sam.

"Look, Kevin. I understand trying to get into a good school is stressful. You've obviously had some kind of psychotic break. Let me get you some help. Or at least call your mom. She'll know what to do for you," Sam begged.

Kevin took a deep breath. He needed help, but not from a shrink or his mother. "Where's Dean?"

"Who?"

"You don't remember Dean?" Kevin asked. Sam had seemed to remember everything except for things having to do with the Supernatural. He just didn't understand the details of all he remembered. Kevin realized now, though, that while discussing their time together, not only had Sam left out Meg, Crowley, and that crazy angel, he had also left out Dean.

"No. Is he a demon, an angel, or a leviathan?"

"He's your brother," Kevin shouted.

"I think I would remember if I had a brother," Sam said. Although, he had to admit to himself, that at this point, he wasn't so sure of that.

SSS

Dean reached the opening with Benny and Cas just behind him. He pulled himself through. As he was going through, Benny made sure that Dean wasn't looking and kicked Castiel back.

"Dean!" Cas yelled as he plummeted to the ground.

Benny pulled himself out.

"We have to go back for him," Dean said.

"If you do, you'll be stuck. That holes going to close up real quick."

As if to prove Benny's point, the hole quickly zipped shut, throwing Dean and Benny across the field.


	4. Chapter 4

"Cas!" Dean screamed as the hole closed over the angel.

"It's over," Benny said. "We've got to go."

"Where are we, anyway? Dean asked looking around. They were in a field, but he could see some buildings a little ways away.

"How should I know?"Benny asked. The only thing he knew for sure was that Crowley was going to show up any minute and he wanted to be gone before that happened.

"Looks like there's a town over there," Dean said. "Let's check it out."

That was probably exactly what Crowley would expect them to do. "No. Let's go the other way."

"Look, man, keep your teeth retracted and nobody is going to know you're a monster," Dean said.

Benny tried to think of something that would get Dean to head away from civilization instead of towards it. "Yeah, but I'm hungry. I don't think I can control myself."

Dean wondered what he had been thinking. He killed monsters. That apparently meant sending them to Purgatory, definitely not bring them here from Purgatory.

"OK," he nodded to Benny. "Lead the way."

When Benny had turned his back on him, Dean quickly brought his blade up and decapitated him. He hated himself for doing it. Benny was his friend. But, Benny was also a vampire. Dean's job was to kill monsters. All monsters. No more letting Sammy talk him out of certain ones.

The thought of his brother brought a smile to Dean's face. He started heading towards the closest building. Dean thought it was a church and rolled his eyes. Figured that would be where he would end up first.

When he got there, he pushed open the door. He couldn't believe it. For once in his life (or lives), it looked like things were finally going his way.

"Sammy?"

Sam and Kevin looked up.

"Dean!" Kevin exclaimed. He hoped Dean wasn't as messed up as Sam appeared to be. "Where have you been."

"Purgatory," Dean answered Kevin, but didn't take his eyes off Sam.

"Purgatory?" Sam asked. This guy was as crazy as Kevin. "Is this the Dean you were just telling me about?"

"Yeah," Kevin said.

"What's he talking about?" Dean asked. "Is that a leviathan or something?"

"No. It's Sam. He just doesn't seem to remember a lot of things."

Sam was regretting coming here. Kevin was clearly troubled. He should be getting help. This Dean guy was all dirty and scary looking. But, at least Kevin seemed to know and trust him. Sam could leave now and not feel guilty. "Well, since Dean's here, I'll be leaving. He looks…capable."

Dean couldn't believe this. He had just spent a year in Purgatory. It had sucked. He had been all alone except for Benny, and now Benny was dead. Sam wanted to leave him. Everybody was always leaving him. His mother died trying to protect Sam. His father died because of his great crusade for revenge. Lisa and Ben had left him because of his lifestyle. Bobby had died. Cas had stayed in Purgatory. But, none of these were really choices. Maybe Lisa had chosen to leave him, but it was one of those situations where there was no real choice.

Sam was the only one who kept leaving him on purpose, though. He had ditched him for Stanford. Then, he had chosen Ruby over him. Then, he had dropped out of hunting because of his demon blood addiction. And instead of staying and asking Dean for help he had left. Well, Sam wasn't going to leave him this time. Dean didn't have anyone else, and he couldn't handle the thought of being alone again. He pulled out his gun. "Stop!"

Sam turned around to see this new guy had pulled a gun on him. He put his hands up slowly, to show he was no threat. "What do you want?"

"You can't leave."

"What are you doing?" Kevin asked. He had just wanted protection from a demon. Not to be caught in some weird family drama.

Dean wished that he had had some handcuffs on him, or something, when he had been zapped to Purgatory. "Is there any rope around here?"

"No, look, you don't have to do that," Sam said, assuming that the rope was for tying him up. His father had taught him a lot of self defense moves. If he remained free, he could probably take this Dean guy down if he got close enough.

"I'll go see," Kevin said. He edged out into the back room. He took a deep breath and decided he was better off on his own. He slipped out of the church and ran down the street.

A few minutes later, Dean realized he wasn't coming back. "You got a car?"

Sam wasn't sure if he should tell him that he did or not. Then he decided that was the best course of action. Otherwise, they may just stand like this forever until he decided to shoot. So, he nodded.

"Where is it?"

"Out back."

Dean nodded his head in that direction, indicating that Sam precede him out there.

"You can just have the keys," Sam said, once more attempting to gain his freedom. He idly wondered where Kevin had gone. He hoped the kid would be OK.

Dean ignored Sam, trying to figure out how he was going to do this. If he drove, Sam could just grab at the steering wheel at any time. If he let Sam drive, who knew what he would do.

"Open the trunk," Dean said, when they got to the car.

Sam was not going to ride in the trunk. He turned to face Dean. "No."

Dean wondered if Sam somehow sensed that Dean wouldn't shoot him. He had to get him to Rufus's cabin somehow. He had to get Sam his memory back, so he could have his brother back.

Well, he'd been hunting in Purgatory for a year. Sam may be bigger, but Dean hoped his reflexes were faster. He quickly closed the distance between them.

Sam saw Dean coming towards him. This was his chance. As soon as Dean was in arm's reach, Sam reached out to hit him. But, he felt his hand being knocked down and saw Dean reaching behind him with his gun. Then he felt it crashing down on his head. He heard Dean say, "Sorry, Sammy," as he slipped down to the ground and into blackness.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam woke up chained to a bed in a cabin.

"Good. You're awake. You were out a long time. You had me worried," Dean said.

"I'm sure," Sam said sarcastically.

"Why can't you remember me?" Dean asked. "I'm your brother."

"I don't have a brother, but I'm pretty sure this isn't how brothers treat each other," Sam said.

Dean stood up and walked over to Sam. Sam skittered back from him. Dean smiled. He loved having control over monsters. He shook his head. Sam wasn't a monster

"How long are you going to keep me chained up here?" Sam asked.

"Until you remember me," Dean answered

"Look, I don't know what your problem is," Sam began. This guy was seriously disturbed, but Sam was thinking maybe he deserved his sympathy. He obviously needed help.

"I don't have a problem," Dean yelled. "You do!" He struck Sam across the face as hard as he could.

Sam looked up at him with fear in his eyes. Dean picked up his knife. It was time to finish this monster off. He brought the knife sweeping down, but then remembered that Sam wasn't a monster. He ran out of the cabin. He had to put some distance between him and Sam until he could get his rage under control.

Dean ran until nightfall. Then he found a place to camp and built a fire. He would go back for Sam in the morning. He didn't have anything to worry about. He would never hurt Sam. Sam would remember him. They would go back to hunting. He just had to be patient.

SSS

Sam woke up in the morning. His wrists were raw from pulling against the cuffs. Dean had been gone all night. Sam was hungry and thirsty and wondering if Dean's plan was just to leave him here to die.

Then the door opened. Sam sat up expecting to see Dean, but it was another man.

"Help me," Sam said.

"Did Dean do this to you?" the man asked.

"You know Dean?" Sam asked. He wondered if this guy was nuts, too.

"You could say that."

"Who are you?" Sam asked. He felt like this guy was playing with him.

"My name's Crowley," Crowley answered as he walked over towards Sam. He had found Benny and had to set out to find Dean was crucial to the second part of the plan. He still didn't know how he was going to handle the third and final part of the plan, but one step at a time. Although one could make the argument that he would be foolhardy to go ahead with step two without having figured out step 3.

"Crowley?" Sam remembered the name. That's who Kevin had said had kidnapped him. "You're not here to rescue me, are you?"

Crowley laughed. A demon rescuing Sam Winchester. Actually, come to think of it, it had been done before.

He heard a noise and turned around. Dean was coming at him with some weapon he had never seen before. He tried to burn it to the hilt, so that Dean would drop it, but apparently it was immune to him. Crowley quickly ducked behind Sam and put his arm around Sam's neck. "What is that thing?"

"It's from Purgatory. Way older and stronger than you are," Dean answered.

"Well, drop it, or I break Jolly Green's neck."

Sam was struggling to breathe, but still found the energy to find this crazy. You can't use a kidnapper's victim as a hostage against the kidnapper. That made no sense. So, he was surprised when Dean put the very strange looking knife down and put his hands up.

"Step away from it."

"How do I know you won't break his neck anyway?"

"I want a little favor from you. You won't be likely to help if I kill your moose."

"Let him go and tell me what you want."

"Step away from the knife and I'll let him go and we can talk."

"Fine," Dean said and kicked the knife a few feet behind him. He didn't want Crowley getting his hands on it.

"Good enough," Crowley decided and released Sam, who took in a big breath of air.

"What do you want?" Dean asked again.

"I need you for a spell."

"A spell?" Sam asked. "Are you guys witches or warlocks or something?"

"Nobody's talking to you," Crowley said.

"What kind of spell?" Dean asked.

"You're the key to something."

"What?"

"A man who has been to Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory shall be the key to opening all three. You've been everywhere. You're the key."

"Why would you want to open all that up?" Dean asked.

"So, I can rule everything. Duh." He was really amazed at the stupidity of the Winchesters sometimes.

"But, just because you open the doors doesn't mean they'll let you rule," Dean pointed out.

"Yes, I realize that there is that slight flaw in my plan. I need to figure out how to become the ruler."

"Don't you think maybe you should figure that out before you open the doors?" Dean asked, hoping to buy some time.

"Well, I'm already in charge of Hell. You spent a year in Heaven. Any ideas of how to make the natives worship me?"

Dean thought back to all the capturing and torture. He would love to take charge of those creatures himself. He shook it off. He was back home. He had to forget about all that he had done this past year. "Even if I did know, I wouldn't help you."

Crowley ran the back of his hand against Sam's cheek. Sam screamed with burning pain. It still burnt even after Crowley had removed his hand.

Seeing someone else torture his brother did something to Dean. He flung himself back and grabbed his Purgatory weapon. Before Crowley could react Dean stabbed it into his neck. Crowley glowed red a few times and dropped to the floor.

Sam tried to stand up and pulled against the chains harder.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam was jumping up and down like crazy. He was very agitated. "Did he hurt you, Sammy?" Dean asked, giving Crowley's body a cold stare. He wanted to bring him back to life so he could kill him painfully.

"No, Dean. I remember."

"Remember what?" Dean asked.

"You. Hunting. Everything."

"For real?" Dean wondered if this was a trick. He had told Sam he wasn't letting him go until he remembered, and if didn't remember yet, what he had just seen had probably totally freaked him out. He would be desparate to get free now. "Prove it. How do you kill a vampire?" If he didn't remember he'd say stake to the heart.

"Decapitation. Or the Colt, if we still had it. Or vamptonite." Sam answered, trying to be as through as possible to prove his point.

"Sammy," Dean said and quickly unlocked the chain cuffing him to the bed.

Sam immediately stood up and grabbed Dean in a bear hug. Dean hugged him back. This was what he had been waiting for since he had gotten back.

When they finally broke part, Dean asked, "How did you lose your memory, anyway?"

"I made a deal with Crowley to get you out of Purgatory. He said the price was some of my knowledge. I didn't realize he was going to take parts of my memory. I thought he just wanted to know something. I didn't really think I knew anything of any value to him, so I said sure."

"Deal must have died when he did," Dean figured.

"Yeah. Why did you chain me up, though?"

"You were going to leave and something seemed off with you." Dean shrugged. Now that Sam had his memory back, no way he was going to leave him.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I was kind of spazzing out about everything," Sam said, doubtfully. Dean had been a little rougher than had been necessary.

"So, what have you been doing this last year?" Dean asked.

"Well, I hit a dog and met a girl and we've all been living together. I was thinking about asking her to marry me."

"So, you want to swing by and say good-bye to her in person?" Dean suggested.

"Well, no. I don't want to say good-bye at all. Dean, I've had normal for the last year. I want to keep going."

Dean's face fell. "Yeah, OK. You can wait to leave until tomorrow, though, right? I'd like to catch up."

"Sure," Sam said. He had been afraid of a fight. He hadn't meant he wanted to sever all connection with Dean, anyway. Surely he knew that.

"I'll make you supper like when we were kids," Dean offered.

"Spaghetti-o's or Lucky Charms?" Sam joked.

"No. This is a special occasion. I have ravioli."

Sam laughed. "Sounds good."

"I got to get something out of my car and then I'll warm it up."

"I can do it," Sam said.

"No. I'll do it."

Sam was surprised at the sharpness of his voice. "I just feel like doing something big brothery. It's been a while."

"OK," Sam shrugged. Dean was acting weird, but he did just get out of Purgatory.

Dean went out to the trunk and got the drugs he was looking for. Hopefully, he wouldn't need anything stronger to keep Sam with him.

SSS

Dean put two bowls of ravioli on the table and sat down across from Sam. "So, tell me about this girl."

"Her name is Amelia. She's a vet. She's beautiful."

"Blonde?" Dean asked.

"No, dark hair. Why did you ask that?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just kind of picturing you with someone like Jessica." Dean hoped the mention of Jessica would make Sam remember that his girlfriends were doomed. Barring that, he hoped maybe Sam would realize Jess was the only girl for him. Dean wouldn't have to worry about Sa leaving him for her.

"I'll never forget Jess, but she would want me to move on." Sam put his hand to his head.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, knowing full well.

"I'm getting a little dizzy."

"Anything else?"

"Really weak," Sam said as he stood up and nearly fell over.

"That's perfect," Dean said.

"What?" Sam was confused.

"I drugged you. You won't be able to leave me, but you'll still be awake."

"How long until it wears off?"

"It will last eight hours. Then, I'll give you some more."

Yeah, right. I'm not going to be eating anything else here, Sam thought.

Dean smiled. He knew what Sam was thinking. But, he also knew Sam was too weak to refuse his will. Just like all those monsters in Purgatory. Dean knew what he wanted now. He would figure out how to get it tomorrow.

SSS

Sam woke up groggy. He looked over and saw Dean sleeping. He knew something was wrong with his brother and he had to help him. But, he should probably leave now, get the drugs out of his system and come back. Maybe even do some research, though he highly doubted there were any books detailing what it happened to a human stuck in Monster Land for a year.

He got up and immediately felt dizzy. He ended up tripping and crashing into the bed.

"Morning, Sammy," Dean said.

Yeah. He hadn't really expected Dean to sleep through that. He knew he couldn't outrun him now, but he would not be taking any more drugs.

Dean came over and gently pushed Sam back down onto the bed. "Open up," he instructed.

Sam shut his mouth and turned his head away. He felt like a tantrum throwing 3 year old. Dean grabbed his chin and forced his mouth open. Just like Amelia did when she was giving animals pills. "Wait," Sam managed to say. "Just hear me out first."

"Fine," Dean said, toying with Sam. He liked it when they got their hopes up. Then he wondered what he was thinking. Sam wasn't his enemy. He was only doing this so Sam wouldn't leave him. He had been alone the past year and he couldn't go back to that. "What?"

"If you keep me drugged and something comes after me, I'll be helpless," Sam appealed to Dean's big brother instincts.

"That won't be a problem," Dean declared.

"Why not? Things always come after me."

"True. You've always been some supernatural magnet. But I have a plan. Nothing will ever bother you again."


	7. Chapter 7

"What plan?" Sam asked in fear. Obviously something had happened to Dean down in Purgatory. He wasn't acting like himself.

"Well, when I buried Crowley's body, I found this," Dean said and took out a piece of paper.

"What is that?"

"It's the formula for opening up all the planes. The only one who can do it is one who has been to earth, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. That's me."

"What do you have to do?" Sam asked, hoping it was really complicated.

"I just have to stand with my arms raised and say this latin thing."

"it can't be that easy. How do you know it's for real?"

"I think the hard part is supposed to be finding someone who fits the bill. And it's for real. Why would Crowley keep fake ritual on him?"

Sam shrugged. "Why exactly do you want to open everything up?" Sam asked, coming back to the point.

"Crowley seemed to think there was a way to take command of them all. It's on those tablets that Kevin has. We just have to find Kevin."

A million questions went through Sam's head. He settled on, "Why would you want to do that? Just leave them where they are."

"No, Sam. I love having power over monsters. You don't know how it feels after years of hunting them and being afraid of them. I know, I never showed it, but of course I was afraid. Down there, they're nothing special. I had power over them and I liked it."

"Dean, I know about wanting power. Remember the demon blood? Take it for me. Just don't do it."

"This is different. "

"No. It's not."

"Here. Take your pill," Dean said.

Sam turned his head away. Dean grabbed Sam's head and did as he had promised. Sam tried to resist, but he ended up swallowing it. "Good boy. I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"To find Kevin."

"What if something comes?" Sam asked, remembering his earlier fear.

"I've put protections all over the place. You'll be fine for a few hours. And soon, I'll have a whole monster army to keep you safe and close by."

Dean left and Sam lay back on the bed. The pill made it hard for him to think, let alone move. Getting from the bed to the door, would be like trying to crawl across the entire country the way he was feeling.

SSS

Dean went back to where they had first found Kevin. He had a feeling that Kevin would return there. He wasn't disappointed.

"You're back," Kevin said.

"Kind of stupid to come back here wasn't it?"

"I know you killed Crowley. Prophet thing."

"OK. Well, was there really something on that tablet that would allow him to control monsters, demons, and angels?" Dean asked nonchalantly.

"Yes."

"The good thing is that Crowley is dead. The bad thing is that he's not the only demon who might want to do that. What would one need?"

"Unfortunately, it's ridiculously easy. The trick is opening it all up, but you're the key to that. So, you should probably try to steer clear of them. The doors don't open all at once. First, Purgatory opens up and the monsters pour out. If you lower your arms before the next door opens, it won't open. So, if demons get a hold of you and force your arms up, try to get them down."

"OK," Dean said, letting Kevin believe that he was trying to prevent this from happening, instead of doing it himself. He wanted to get to the good stuff, but didn't want to appear to eager.

"Anyway, when the first monster pops out of Purgatory, the demon would just need to stab it with a weapon from Purgatory."

"That is simple," Dean said.

"Yeah. So keep away from demons," Kevin said again.

"Definitely," Dean said. "You, too." After all, he didn't need some demon figuring this out in the next few hours.

SSS

Sam weakly lifted his head when he heard the door open. "OK, Sammy. I can open the doors now. That means I won't have to give you any more drugs. This pill will wear off in about five hours. I hated having to do that to you."

Dean pulled Sam up to a sitting position and then threw Sam's arm over his shoulder.

"Wheah goin'?"Sam slurred.

"Outside. Think we'd be a little cramped with all the monsters, demons and angels coming through the cabin don't you think?"

Sam wanted to beg Dean not to do this, but he didn't have the strength. Plus, he knew it wouldn't do it any good. Dean was too far gone on his power trip. He knew the feeling. Dean couldn't talk him out drinking demon blood. And he wouldn't be able to talk Dean out of this.

Once outside, Dean made his way to a stand of trees slowly. It was hard to drag around a barely functioning sasquatch. He gently lowered Sam to the ground and walked about fifty feet away. He lifted up his arms and began the latin chant.

Sam cringed. He knew that no good could come of this. Every monster and demon that ever lived running around on earth. He had no idea what spell could possibly allow Dean to control them all.

Dean stopped shouting and the earth shook. A hole opened up in the ground next to Dean. Nothing else happened for what seemed an eternity, but was probably more like thirty seconds. Then Sam saw something climbing out. He watched as Dean stabbed that new weapon of his into it. It sparked red, just as if it had been killed by the Colt or Ruby's knife. Dean kicked it back into the hole. Sam didn't understand. He thought Dean wanted to control the monsters, not kill them. He hoped that he had changed his mind and was just planning to kill each monster as it climbed out. He had no idea if that was possible, but was definitely preferable to his original plan.

Dean realized that he had had to lower his arms to kill that monster, but that was OK. Just having monsters would be enough. He didn't need demons and angels, too.

Sam saw more monsters crawling out. He noticed that Dean made no move to hurt them. Maybe he had had some personal beef with the first one. Then, he saw a familiar shape crawl out of the hole.


	8. Chapter 8

"Cas, you're alive," Dean said.

"You left me behind," Cas accused.

The earth started shaking again and the monsters who had already climbed out of the hole scattered. "WAIT!" Dean yelled. He wanted all his minions here at once. The monsters didn't stop, though. They kept running.

"What's going on?" Sam mumbled. He could feel the earth shaking beneath him. He was scared. He knew he couldn't defend himself against anything bigger than a butterfly.

Before anyone had any chance to answer, the hole got bigger and a dragon flew out.

"Change into your human form," Dean ordered.

Not only did he not change his form, he breathed fire that landed a couple of feet behind Dean.

"Stop!" Dean commanded. Why wasn't anyone obeying him.

The dragon looked at him and then turned his head. Dean followed his gaze and saw Sam propped up on his arm where he had left him.

"Hey, ugly," Dean yelled, trying to get the dragon's attention back on him.

The dragon knew exactly what Dean was doing. He hadn't run into Dean during his time down in Purgatory, but he had heard about what he was doing. Torturing, sacrificing. All, so he could get back up here. How was that any less of a monster than what he considered them? He remembered these two. They were brothers. Sam, the one laying down, was the one who had killed him. But, before that had happened, he had managed to throw Sam across the cave—OK, it was a sewer system—and Dean had immediately jumped in front of his brother to protect him. That was how he was going to punish Dean. He and his partner had planned it in Purgatory.

He leapt over to where Sam was in one bound.

"NO!" Dean yelled, as the dragon scooped Sam up and took off in flight.

"We should get out of here,"Castiel said. "There will be more coming out."

"I'm supposed to be their ruler," Dean complained as they ran towards the car.

"Just drive," Cas yelled, as they could see more monsters piling out of the hole.

SSS

Sam felt sick as he was being flown through the air. He wondered if the dragon would just drop him on some rocks somewhere.

He closed his eyes. It was making the dizziness worse, but he didn't want to see how far down the earth was, and he didn't want to know where they were going.

Suddenly he dropped with a thud. He opened his eyes. The dragon was flying off, and he found that he had been deposited on a two-foot ledge, about 30 feet from the top of a cliff. He very carefully peered over the edge. He quickly scooted back. It was a long way down to a very rocky beach. Had the dragon left him here to die, or would he be back?

SSS

"Why are you stopping?" Cas asked.

"We need gas. And I need to pee," Dean answered. "Can you pump while I go do that?"

"Sure."

While Dean was in the bathroom the clerk looked over at the security monitor at the man pumping gas. "Huh?"

"What is it?" a customer, and friend asked him, while paying for a candy bar.

"Some kind of weird camera flare, I guess. I've never seen anything like it. His eyes are just like two lights. It's kind of creepy."

His friend bent over to look. "Too late. He just drove off."

Just then, Dean emerged from the bathroom. He walked outside and saw no sign of Cas or Sam's car. "Where'd he go?" he asked the clerk.

"I don't know. He just drove off."

SSS

When the last of the monsters had climbed out of Purgatory, Castiel finally climbed out. All the monsters were out for his blood. But, he had heard talk down there. He wasn't sure how this door had opened, but he knew that some of the monsters had been planning an escape to exact revenge on Dean. He knew that Sam was the key. He had to help them. They were his friends. Dean had tried to get him out of Purgatory. It hadn't been his fault he had failed.

SSS

Dean had wandered around aimlessly for hours. He didn't know why Cas had taken off. He didn't know where to look for Sam and the dragon. He didn't even know if Sam was still alive. He didn't know anything.

SSS

Sam realized that the drugs had finally worn off. He was thirsty, though. He looked up and saw the sun high in the sky burning down on him. There wasn't a cloud in sight. But, he thought he saw a small shadow peeking down over the edge of the cliff.

"Hello?" he aske.d

"Hi, Sam."

"Cas, is that you?"

"It's me, Sam."

"Where's Dean?" Sam asked, not sure if he really wanted to know. He might drug him up again.

"I have no idea."

"Can you get me up?"

"I'm sorry. My power got depleted down in Purgatory. What should I do?"

Sam looked around. "Get some rope?"

"OK. I'll be back."

"Hurry," Sam shouted after a retreating Cas. He had no idea if the dragon would be back or not.

SSS

Dean ended up back at the church where Kevin was hiding out. He was obviously doing something wrong in the taking charge department. He just hoped that whatever he had done wrong was correctable.

"Dean. Did a demon force you to open Purgatory?" He had felt the shaking, and he had just known. He was scared. If the other things that came out of Purgatory were even half as bad as Leviathans he wanted no part of them.

"Actually, I did it myself. I want to be the king of the monsters. I did what you told me, but it didn't work. They're not obeying me."

"I thought you wanted that information so you could stop the demons, not do it yourself," Kevin exclaimed, aghast.

"I didn't think you'd tell me if you knew the truth. Do you know where I went wrong?"

"I know exactly what you did wrong."


	9. Chapter 9

"I know exactly what you did wrong."

"What? Can I fix it?" Dean asked, hopefully.

"No, you moron. It only works for a demon. How many times did I say 'the demon' when I was explaining it to you?" Kevin was almost shouting. He was sick of being a prophet. Sick of being used. He just wanted to go back to his life a year ago. Before he knew about the supernatural. Before he had kidnapped by leviathans and then demons. And most of all, before he had met the Winchesters.

"Why didn't you tell me specifically?" Dean asked.

"Because I didn't think you were an idiot. My mistake."

"Is there any way I can fix this?"

"No," Kevin said and stomped out again. Dean Winchester had just turned earth in Monster Central.

Dean left through the other door. He knew Kevin couldn't help him now.

SSS

Sam caught the rope thrown down to him and tied it around his waist. "Is there anything you can tie that to while I climb up?" Sam asked.

"Already done," he was assured.

Sam started trying to find foot and hand holds so he could climb up. For some reason, he didn't feel like the rope was tied. It felt like Cas was just holding it. But, he couldn't figure out why he would lie about something like that.

Quite a bit later, he was not far from the top and sweating profusely when he heard something underneath him. He looked down and saw the dragon circling beneath him. "Help me," he said as he reached his hand up to Cas.

Cas grabbed his hand and threw him from the cliff. Sam decided to use his last moments of life to wonder whether or not that was really Cas or a monster. Based on Dean, Purgatory really changed a person. He closed his eyes waiting for the impact.

The dragon sailed underneath Sam and flew up to the top of the cliff with him. He put him down near the edge and changed into his human form. Sam recognized him at once as the dragon he had killed right after he got his soul back.

"Why did you get him off the ledge?" the dragon asked.

"Just messing with him."

"You're not Cas, are you?" Sam asked.

"No. Apparently the only time you can tell the difference is when it's your brother."

Sam wasn't even sure what that sentence meant. "What are you talking about?"

"The last time we met. You remember? Back in St. Louis. You knew that I wasn't Dean in about ten seconds flat. You had no idea I wasn't 'Little Becky," though."

"You're that shapeshifter," Sam said unnecessarily.

"That's right."

"So, go ahead and kill me already," Sam said. He couldn't very well outrun a dragon, so there was no point in trying to escape right now.

"No. I'm going to kill you in front of Dean. I've had a few years to figure out where I went wrong last time. I won't make the same mistake this time."

"What mistake?" Sam asked. Didn't really matter. He had a dragon this time around, and they had given that sword back to Dr. Visyak and had no way to kill a dragon.

"Like I'm telling you," the shifter said. "Turn around."

Sam just stood there defiantly. If they were going to kill him, fine, but he wasn't going to do what they told him to do.

The dragon grabbed him and spun him around. The shifter grabbed Sam's hands behind him and tied them. "Come on," he said and pulled Sam over to the car.

"Hey, that's my car. How did you get that?"

"From Dean."

Sam realized that this was the same Cas that crawled out of Purgatory.

"What did you do to him."

The shifter laughed. "Nothing. Why don't you understand this? I'm going to hurt him by killing you in front of him. Not quickly and painlessly, of course."

The shifter opened the trunk and shoved Sam in.

SSS

Dean went back to the hole. If there were still monsters crawling out, he would need to kill them. It was the least he could do.

When he got there, there was nobody around. The hole had closed. "You came back."

Dean turned around. Cas had just come up behind him.

"Why did you take off at the gas station?"

"What are you talking about?" Cas asked.

"Oh, crap," Dean realized he had been with a shapeshifter, or leviathan, or something.

"Where's Sam?" Cas asked.

"A dragon took him."

"I was afraid of that. The monsters have been planning an escape to get back to you. All those plans have included Sam."

"You mean, they're going to get back at him, too?"

"No. I mean they're going to use him to get back at you."

"We have to find him fast, then."

Then Dean's cell phone rang. "Dean," Dean heard Cas's voice over the phone. It was obviously the fake one from before. That made him realize he needed to test this Cas before he trusted him any further. Man, was he getting rusty or what? In the meantime, he decided to not let the other one know he was onto him.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

The shifter shook his head. Was Dean really that stupid that he hadn't figured it out yet? Oh well, he'd fill him in now. "I'm great. I'm with Sam."

Dean gripped the phone tighter. "Is he OK?" he asked, keeping his voice as level as possible.

"He's fine for now. Want to talk to him?"

"Duh," Dean said. Obviously there was no need for pretence any more. A friend wouldn't answer that Sam was 'fine for now.'

"Dean, don't come. The dragon's here, too."

"Of course, he'll come," the shifter said as he took the phone back. "Dean would never let anything happen to little Sammy."

"If you hurt him, you bastard, I'll kill you."

"Like you won't anyway," the shifter laughed. "We're at some caves on the cliffs on the coast of Oregon. That's all the hint you're going to get. We'll hurt Sam, but try to keep him alive until you get here." He hung up.

"How long will it take him to get here?" the dragon asked.

"Who knows?" the shifter shrugged. "Get him into the cave?"

The dragon turned back into his natural shape and lifted Sam up and flew into the cave. He flew into the cave and kept flying. The cave seemed to be miles deep. Finally, the dragon deposited him on the floor. It was so dark, Sam couldn't even see the dragon, even though he knew that its eyes were bright red.

He heard the dragon flying off and leaving him, though. Without the use of his eyes or hands, he would never find his way out of there. And if Dean did find him, he would be helpless against the dragon in the pitch black.


	10. Chapter 10

After Dean had tested Cas in all possible ways and wondered why he didn't have a test that would tell if he was an angel, they headed to Oregon.

"Do you have a weapon that will work on a dragon?" Cas asked.

Dean pulled out t the weapon he got in Purgatory. "This will work on anything except angels and demons."

"Handy."

SSS

Sam found a sharp rock and was rubbing his ropes against it to cut them. Unfortunately he was cutting his wrists at the same time. He wasn't sure what good this was going to do. He couldn't see anything. But, he couldn't just sit here waiting for the dragon to come back and kill him. Or just sit here and starve to death when the dragon didn't come back.

SSS

"What exactly is the plan?" the dragon asked. "If you want to kill Sam in front of Dean, why did you have me stash him in a cave?"

"Dean will go in the cave to save Sam. He'll have a flashlight or something. But, either way, when you breathe fire on his brother, Dean will see it. He'll smell Sam's burning flesh. He'll hear his screams."

"OK, then, what's with the skin change?"

"Back up plan, just in case."

SSS

"Man there are a lot of cliffs and beaches in Oregon," Dean complained two days later.

"Well, there aren't any caves at this one, at least. We can move on," Castiel said.

"What if we don't find him? What if they lied to us? Maybe instead of being in a cave in Oregon, he's in a swamp in Florida."

"We just have to keep looking," Cas said.

"I know." Dean's one rule was to never give up on Sammy. He'd never done it before, he certainly wasn't going to start now.

SSS

Sam had been crawling for what seemed like forever. He had to feel his way along the wall. He had gone down a couple of dead ends. The only bright spot, symbolically, was that he had found some fresh, running water. He had been about to give up, but the water had given him strength. It was wearing off, though. He didn't know how much further he could go. He could be really close to the mouth or far away.

SSS

"I really hadn't expected Dean to take this long. Maybe you should go bring Sam some food," the shifter said the dragon.

"What's the difference? If Dean finds him and he's already dead, he'll blame himself for not finding him fast enough. That will be good enough."

"NO!" the shifter shouted. "He has to see Sam die. I've replayed my death scene a thousand times, and each time I've changed the ending to Sam dying before his brother's eyes. You're not going to rob me of that."

"Well, if this all happens in the cave and you're out here, you're not going to see it anyway."

"You'll take me in with you."

"Whatever. I'll go feed him."

The dragon changed form and flew into the cave. He stopped short when he had only gone 100 yards and Sam was crawling towards the exit.

Sam heard the flapping of wings and tried to press himself against the cave wall.

The dragon wasn't sure what he should do. He couldn't see in here in his human form, but the hostage had to be tied up again. He had gotten too close to getting out. He swooped down and grabbed Sam in his talons.

As the approached the mouth of the cave, Sam closed his eyes against the light. He felt himself being dropped to the ground a couple of seconds later. Luckily, it wasn't a long drop. He slowly opened his eyes and came face to face with himself.

"What did you bring him out for?"

"He came untied," the dragon answered, once he had changed form again.

They heard a car in the distance. "Crap, that's them," the shifter said. "We don't have time to get back in the cave. Circle around and provide cover." He grabbed a knife and put it to Sam's throat. "Come on. Get behind these rocks." He didn't wait for compliance, but shoved him where he wanted him.

Dean saw the dragon overhead. "This must be the right place."

"Let's get out."

They got out of the car and ran towards the cave. There was no outrunning a dragon, anyway, and Dean was going to do his best to achieve his objective of saving Sam. According to the shifter, he was in a cave.

The dragon breathed fire about five feet from Dean. He wasn't sure why he cared, but the shifter would be mad at him if he killed him. He realized that there was no such limitations on the angel, though. He swooped down so that he could rake at him with his claws. Sometimes the fire was just too fast for his liking.

Dean saw that the dragon was going to go after Cas. He waited until the dragon's belly was directly above him and thrust his weapon into the air. It found its mark. The dragon glided about a dozen feet and crashed to the ground.

"Show time," the shifter whispered to Sam when he had witnessed the dragon's demise. He couldn't believe how stupid that dragon was. Like he was going to let anyone else be in charge of Dean's misery. He grabbed Sam up, and tackled him off the rocks. They began fighting. Dean wouldn't know who was who, until it was too late. This was the mistake he had made the first time. He should have changed into Sam's skin, so Dean wouldn't be able to kill so fast. Confusion was a shifter's best weapon and he had squandered it last time.

Dean saw two Sam's fighting. Obviously one of them was the shifter, but how would he know which one. He started running towards them. Distance couldn't be helping the situation.

"Sammy!" he yelled as he drew his gun—filled with silver bullets, of course.

Two heads turned toward him. "Stop fighting and separate," he yelled.

The real Sam would trust him. The shifter would continue to fight. Or, if the shifter obeyed to, he could do a quick silver test. Either way, he would know for sure.

Sam sighed in relief. His brother seemed to be more in control of his emotions than the last time he had seen him. He knew exactly what Dean was doing, so he tried to disengage with the shifter and roll in the opposite direction.

The shifter also knew what Dean was doing. He had anticipated this. When Sam tried to roll away, the shifter grabbed him back, while retrieving his knife from his pocket. He placed the knife to Sam's throat. "You really think it would be that easy?"

"You kill him, you're dead next. You really want that." It was so eerie to threaten someone who looked exactly like Sam. You'd think after all these years of demon possessions and shapeshifters, he would be used to such things.

"That's where you're wrong," the shifter said and started backing up towards the cliff.

"There's nowhere to go," Dean pointed out, confused.

"Falling won't kill me, Dean. Not unless I fall on a silver knife."

Dean's eyes widened. The shifter was going to go over the cliff with Sam and walk away.

"That's the look I was waiting for. And it will look even better that last millisecond before we go over."

Dean tried looking for an opening. But it had to be a heart shot. Sam was being held too tightly to throw the shifter off. The shifter knew all their moves.

Sam was trying to pull the shifter's arm off. But, he knew it was useless. This was a hold their dad had taught them. Unless your attacker was significantly weaker than you, there was no escape. Yet, suddenly, Sam felt a slackening of pressure. He wondered if they were at the edge and starting to go down. But, he still felt his feet solidly behind him. He pushed forward and heard two gunshots.

He turned back to see the shifter falling back onto Cas. That explained it. Cas had snuck up behind the shifter and pulled him off of him. "Thanks," Sam whispered.

"Sam, are you OK?" Dean asked as he ran forward to join his brother and friend.

"Yeah. Are you? You're not going to drug me again, are you?"

"No. I'm sorry about that. I was just afraid of being alone. You were going to leave me for a normal life."

"Did you really free all of Purgatory?"

"Yeah. Not my best move."

"Well, the good news, is that since you dropped your arms early, once all the monsters were out, the door closed above them," Cas said.

"What exactly does that mean?" Sam asked.

"It means that when a monster is killed, it will be stuck down there again. It can't climb back out."

"Great. So, I have to go kill a million monsters, now?" Dean asked.

"No." Sam said.

"What do you mean no?" Dean asked. If geek boy knew of some spell, that would be great.

"We have to go kill a million monsters. When one of us makes a mess, we both clean it up. Right?"

"Are you sure? I know you wanted that normal life."

Sam laughed humorlessly. "I doubt anyone will have a normal life with all these monsters roaming around."

"Well, then," Cas said. "We have work to do."

The End


End file.
